No. It won’t. There are no examples of any single car canceling another. The auto market is a massive space and just because one manufacturer makes a similar model as another doesn’t mean that an entire company or range of vehicles will cease to exist.

This idea is also terribly counter-productive. Imagine if American car makers just gave up once the first proper muscle car arrived in showrooms. What if Ferruccio Lamborghini just walked away from his meeting with Enzo? Just accepting that there is no point to competition. Instead, he proves my point. Ferruccio set out to turn out Enzo’s lights and instead helped drive Ferrari to the pinnacle of sports car perfection. Elevating himself, his company, and all other sports cars along the way.

“What is the most average thing we can manufacture and sell for the most average amount of money?” – Every Company

Subaru and Mitsubishi is another example. During the nineties and through the naughties, they produced some of the greatest enthusiast cars of all time. They used their platforms to lift both brands by fighting it out over who made the best road-going rally car. Now, however, I can’t name a single vehicle in the Mitsubishi line-up or if they are even around anymore. I’ve already covered how wonderfully boring Subaru has become.

Competition used to be the main driving factor for innovation. All it does now though is create a rush towards the middle. “What is the most average thing we can manufacture and sell for the most average amount of money?” This question is asked in every boardroom around the globe, every single day. All because we, as consumers, have stopped demanding that what comes next is genuinely innovative.

We take to the comment sections of our favorite social media platforms and eviscerate any company that dares to try something new. I’ve written before about companies that challenge the status quo and how having to think about adjusting to a new way of thinking is impossible for the internet. Until another new way comes along. Then the old new idea is the only way that anything should ever be done. There is no discomfort in the things we have become comfortable with after all.

I guess all of this is to say, no, whatever new vehicle that comes along is not going to put whatever other company out of business. Just like no new hatchback is going to shutter Volkswagen. No new hybrid will topple Toyota. These companies will be around for a long time because they are massive. They set the average.

Thinking hurts. -Internet

Companies like Tesla will survive because while everyone is rushing to the middle, trying to capture the attention of the center of the Gaussian distribution, Tesla is busy reshaping the curve. So please, for the love of progress, stop going on about other electric vehicles that will put Tesla out on the curb and start demanding that other car makers bring big ideas to everyday cars.